Captain Ryan Goh's personal appeal to keep his status was rejected by Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, who had earlier described him as an undesirable immigrant, the Today newspaper said.

Immigration officials last month stripped Goh of his permanent resident status after he was singled out by Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew for instigating a revolt in the SIA pilots' union over a labour dispute with management.

The unrest led to the ouster of the union's leadership and government warnings against the pilots' confrontational stance.

Goh, who also holds Australian permanent residency rights, told the newspaper he felt "very sad" because he considered Singapore home.

"How would you feel when you have to leave home? I feel sad, uncertain. It's not like moving from hotel to hotel. It's moving home," he said.

"I did not go through the appeal process just for the sake of going through the motions. I tried hard to convince the authorities that I was a value-adding resident."

SIA said Goh can no longer work for the carrier. The airline said it would "make the necessary arrangements with him (Goh) concerning his cessation of employment with the company," according to the report.

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